Most of you will know Marco Hietala from his work in Nightwish, or even Tarot. His voice is one of the more recognizable voices in metal. With his extensive repertoire, he has quite a lot of experience to put into a record. Now I would not label Pyre of the Black Heart as a metal […]

When I first listened this venomous piece of work called “ב:The Black Bile” Mgla came into my mind. Well…I wasn’t very far off since members The Fall and E.V.T. are live musicians of the above mentioned band. Luckily Medico Peste, active since 2010, has an own face and balances between a more melodic Deathspell Omega, […]

Releasing a bunch of full length albums since existing under their current name, Vananidr starts the year with presenting their third album within a year time: ‘Damnation’. This Swedish band has quite a turbulent history and names changes (you might have heard of them by the names Hydra or Synodus Horrenda) and line-up changes, and […]

This is not the first time I will spend my Valentine’s day with Delain. And this one is a little bit more special. Even though their latest record “Apocalypse & Chill” has been released, they chose today to have their official release party. For this party, they brought along Blackbriar. The last chance I had […]

Svart Crown have always kind of seemed like to have fallen between chairs. Never really kicked other releases of their places and were never truly memorable partners in the world of Extreme music. This doesn’t mean, of course, that the band never had any good releases – Profane from 2013 or Abreaction from 2017 were […]

15-02-2010 Doc’s Metalfest part III Willemeen, Arnhem, the Netherlands Words: Erik (E) with contributions by Wouter (W) Pictures: Wouter After the succesfull previous editions of Doc’s Blackfest, it was obvious that the WillemEen would be haunted again for another edition of this festival. And with a solid line-up of known and lesser known acts, this […]

“I’d like to keep my eyebrows, please” On a stormy day, Sabaton brought their “The Great Tour” to AFAS live in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. For this show, they brought along Amaranthe and Apocalyptica. Before the concert, AFAS Live announced that the show would still continue as scheduled. Some people complained, since the Dutch weather institute […]

Ihsahn‘s solo work has always had a divisive character to me. The roots in extreme metal, the progressive and complex music, combined with the influences and a brass ensemble, leaves me somewhere between being intruiged (‘Lend Me The Eyes Of Millennia‘) and not getting through the material. That said, there is no doubt that this […]

When reflecting on Black Metal there certainly are quite a few top notch bands from Greece. Just think of (older) Rotting Christ, Sear Bliss and Acherontas, just to name a few. You will agree that this country has spawned quite a few interesting darkened Metal acts over the last three decades. This also goes for […]

Iceland’s excelling black metal scene has found a footing in the international metal scene over the past years, and seems there to stay. While bands like Svartidauði, Sinmara, Auðn and Misþyrming are establishing themselves as the name of this particular scene, there are also new projects erupting from the burned, vulcanic soul on a regularly. […]